Dang you have an eye for detail

For the rt 56 part I just modified the clark fork alternate near Troy by using lower lake creek and iron creek roads to stay west of the creek and rt 56-they are shown as good on OSM and Kootenai NF maps but that does not guarantee success.

WRT to interstate section
i have in the past taken a route from Pearson (where the moon pass rd meets end of the hiawatha) down to avery (take the old road down by the river its gated at the lower end less traffic and less dusty)  thence up the st joe rd to red ives and the NF 320 rd which goes to the east end of Superior. This version is  7-8k of vert  some of which is steep between red ives and the border- you would miss the Hiawatha and the the railroad grade parts along the interstate which in my view are skippable.

Since segment 2 goes up the next creek valley to the east if one was continuing on and did not need resupply you could take rd 388 between the 2 valleys in montana  or a combination of roads 715 and 720 in ID over to the route west of hoodoo pass.

I just got in from a ride- i did a deviation for the 56 area and i rode a route west of st regis that might extend to superior, i'll review later tonight or in the AM.
Have to think about the fuel canisters.

Where is home?

Have you been to glacier? you could do a route to and through the west edge of the park. And then use parts of the gdmbr to get to the dickey lake area.
If you are ok with climbing you can take the gdmbr north out of whitefish to the werner peak rd and then climb to a saddle(with a great view of the empty upper lazy creek  valley} in the whitefish range (a bit of a grunt) then descend through largely closed roads to the outside north fork road at big creek, then you take the outside north fork a couple of miles to the camas rd where you enter glacier (no entry station) then from the end of the camas rd you take the inside north fork rd to polebridge. There you can either take the gdmbr south over red meadow pass to upper whitefish lake and the fitzsimmons rd to stryker just a bit from Dickey lake.

Such a route would have more and better views than the full section of the gdmbr through there but would be harder. Timed properly, I.e. early morning departure you should have little traffic on most of that route.

I might be able to pm you a track if its of interest.

From dickey lake you could either take back roads paralleling 93 to eureka and join the WW route there or if you want to try something different than what you may have done last time you can go up fortine creek to edna creek. up edna to a pass then down pinkham creek to rd 7182  to the bridge over koocanusa.
again harder but i think nicer.

cheers,

Bill

Inertiaman, if you are leaving from whitefish I can give some suggestions from here to the route- too, i have ridden a fair amount in the regions of the section 1 , Not sure i get some of the routing choices like along MT 56 (Bull River rd- pretty region but generally speaking I avoid montana highways as the shoulders are sparse and the speed limit is 70 on 2 lanes) or paralleling the interstate west of superior.

Is the route still evolving?- seems like now there is a general path those of us with local knowledge could help provide alternates or more scenic options

there are people out riding it now, just saw a guy pass my driveway, soaked with way way too much stuff

border closure now extended to 7/21

fyi border closure extended till 7/21

I think that as you get closer to the date you could ask for input, I live right on the route outside of whitefish and could give you an answer for right now but I guess that is subject to change as a month currently seems like an aeon. Right now my gut would be that a solo respectful cyclist would be just fine. Eureka mt for example never really acknowledged that anything was happening. Whitefish is inundated with tons of out of staters - as would be most tourist towns. A cyclist with their shit together is the least of anyones worries.

Hambone,
It might be a bit later than your time frame till the border is fully opened, there is a lot of sentiment for keeping Yanks out of canada for a while longer till infection rates come down

I think that for mixed surfaces and longer rides that wider is better (to a point, just not sure what that point is) for a tire. Currently for longer rides here in NW montana i have been using a 2013 Ti fargo with 2.35 Mezcal tires, they roll quite well and offer better cushioning than a small tire, to the extant that i have thought of trying the 2.6's. I think that the perception of speed or sluggishness has a lot of different components, some of them psychological. It is often stated, and i tend to agree that very high tire pressures feel fast but are less efficient as the surface roughness increases. Too, i know that my speed on smooth surfaces may be less but the control i gain and the relief somewhat from vibration and pounding are real. I got away from using a cycle computer long ago and have never used strava so going a bit slower is more ok when its not really in my face all the time. As rides get longer better absorption of trail irregularities really helps maintain freshness and control.

Maybe try a bike with a bit wider but fast rolling tires ? Width has less to do with energy loss than construction within limits. Too, on many of your surfaces i bet something wider might be faster than your 38's.

I'm outside of whitefish and here in this county things are odd, i guess like everywhere. I believe that barring a resurgence of virus by early june cyclists would be welcome providing they act appropriately. This county has not had positive in over 2 weeks and i think only ever had 15 (100k population) so pretty good. no idea if the border will actually open by then. I know if there was much currently open above 4500 ft road or trail wise I would be bike touring but there is not so i'm biding my time.

Timon,
As someone who lives in one of the communities that you are concerned with infecting, I thank you for caring. However this situation won't really be going away for a long long time and in the interim the small business's in these communities need to survive. There will be some risk inevitably, but in areas like this most people are being cautious and intelligent in their approach. For example, today I got my hair cut, by the woman who has cut it for 14 years, she only is doing it for a week or so then not for a month in order to protect her family. I needed a haircut and she liked some sense of normalcy and I'm sure the income. This is in county that has not had a positive case in some time and people aren't even coming to the testing centers. All places are different and all times are different. Just by being respectful and cautious, as you seem to be, you are almost guaranteed to be welcome.

I believe that's what i was referring to as far as cyclists' behavior. If you are coming from a place that 8 weeks from now does still have an infection rate that is high then either isolate for an appropriate length of time or get tested. I get that things are bad in some/many places now but there are many others where they are not. And how could one begin to guess about 8 weeks from now. The route will be open - in many places it already is. When I bike pack, particularly in this region the woods are my campground, kitchen and toilet. I don't spend much if any time near other people.

[responsible]

AS someone who lives on the route I think very possibly yes- at least for the northern half of the us. Of course things can always change but the route goes through areas that have low infection rates and small business's that need money. This is not to say that all services will be open or welcoming or even that the border will be fully reopened. Too, appropriate behavior on the part of the cyclist is indicated.

Do you really think biking through 2 countries and 5 states and stopping at dozens of small town grocery stores, diners and bike shops is a responsible thing to do right now, or 8 weeks from now?

This isn't just about you either.  It's also all the people you interact with along the way and their vulnerability.

Trump should have nothing to do with this anyways, as if he's actually in control of opening the economy.  States rights and all.

Ken
did you ever ride this?

Hi,
wondering if this is still for sale and if I might get the geometry

Thanks

on short trips i just take camp suds for everything,. 1 bottle and it's concentrated. I have started taking a bit of dawn concentrate for the greasy, grimy stuff and putting the bikes together (seems like every room in europe i assemble a bike in is all white). Used to take a pac towel- never used.

OP
did you get my reply to your email?

Lilli,
don't know if you are reading this still but i would not worry too much about water this year till you are well on your way. As far as wildlife i also really would not worry as most of the route has great sightline's. Do learn how to hang your food and keep smells out of your camp but don't worry about critters, instead consider yourself lucky to see them. Also 1 lesson i learned the hard way years ago is to keep salty items, gloves clothing etc in your tent and away from all the cute animals that you aren't afraid of- cost me a helmet once.
I might be able to join for a bit depending on timing and live on the route- if you need information about the NW montana part of the route feel free to PM me

Bill